Summit School honors employee’s husband

Stella Chavez at the Summit School of Ahwatukee

Stella Chavez along with her children Shassidy (CQ) Holmes and her son Gary Chavez show off a tile wall dedicated to their husband/dad Waldo at the Summitt School of Ahwatukee who passed away April 1, 2010. Stella Chavez is a longtime receptionist at the school. March, 30,2011(Darryl Webb/AFN)

Darryl Webb/AFN

Stella Chavez at the Summit School of Ahwatukee

Stella Chavez along with her children Shassidy (CQ) Holmes touch a tile wall dedicated to their husband/dad Waldo at the Summit School of Ahwatukee who passed away April 1, 2010. Stella Chavez is a longtime receptionist at the school. March, 30,2011(Darryl Webb/AFN)

Darryl Webb/AFN

Stella Chavez at the Summit School of Ahwatukee

Stella Chavez along with her children Gary Chavez and Shassidy (CQ) Holmes sit in front of a tile wall dedicated to their husband/dad Waldo at the Summitt School of Ahwatukee who passed away April 1, 2010. Stella Chavez is a longtime receptionist at the school. March, 30,2011(Darryl Webb/AFN)

Stella Chavez works in the same building she has for the past 14
years. But of all those years, this past one has been the hardest.
Her husband Waldo passed away one year ago. The man she had been
married to for 43 years was gone suddenly and tragically after an
eight-hour surgery to repair the mitral valve in his heart. He was
63. Chavez took the rest of the school year off at her job at
Summit School of Ahwatukee to grieve and to figure out how she was
going to deal with all the responsibilities that were now solely
hers. "He paid the bills and did so many things for us," Chavez,
63, said. "I never had to drive very far to work so he always
pumped my gas. I had to learn how to do that."

Waldo was known for his thoughtful gestures, and the staff and
students at Summit School wanted to do something to honor his
memory. When Chavez showed up for work last August, they unveiled a
tribute to her husband. Each preschool student painted a tile in
Waldo's memory because he had helped paint that building when it
was built years be fore. "They knew he was a painter and wanted to
celebrate that," Chavez said. The tiles are organized on a wall in
the playground, now titled, "Waldo's Wall." "I have been working
with kids so long and they just really make my day," Chavez said.
On the eve of the anniversary of his death, the new preschoolers
this year will create another set of tiles and expand Waldo's Wall.
"She's our heart and soul," said Andrea Benkel, director of early
childhood education. "We want to do everything we can to support
her and honor Waldo." With the support of her own children,
grandchildren, members of the Bridgeway Community Church and the
families of Summit School, Chavez has made it out the other side.
"My family is what keeps me going," she said. "And I just want to
thank everyone at Summit for everything they have done and
everything they continue to do for me."